India the largest democracy in the world has slipped to 42nd place on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual Global Democracy Index amid the “rise of conservative religious ideologies” and increase in vigilantism and violence against minorities as well as lack of good political culture, less effective functioning of government, political participation and civil liberties.
After 69th Republic Day celebration the billion dollar question we need to ask is how do we make this Democracy a more effective one? How do we attain the goals of our constitution?
If we have a look at our country we can proudly say that the standard of living has improved, our economy is one of the fastest growing, Infrastructure has received a push and agriculture and industrial growth is encouraging.
But the other picture is also true; according to Transparency International’s 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)) India ranks 79th out of 170 countries. The organisation generally defines corruption as “the misuse of public power for private benefit.” In fact corruption is the greatest enemy of our democracy. This corruption is not just in relation to money or riches but these days it is also in relation to corrupting minds of people by divisive, hate filled ideologies. The first type creates a greater gap between the rich and the poor. We need laws to serve the interests of common man rather than serving the interests of just politicians and their fellow industrialists. It is not enough “to make business easy” but make common man sharers in the wealth of the country.
The second kind of corruption tries to destroy the very fabric of our constitution by creating animosity, division and attacking the secular nature of our country. We need laws to promote and protect a secular and humanitarian spirit to check this malaise.
If a Democracy is to work the contribution of people should not end only with elections but there should be more participation of the common man. The ones who are elected should be made accountable to their people. They should not just be answerable but also punishable for going against the interests and betterment of the society. There should be laws to check whether the huge projects that are passed are for the interest of the common people. State level or national level projects should be passed only after proper information is given and consultation done with all affected parties.
